ARGUMENT 


CAPT.  JAS.  B.  EADS 

BEFORE  THE 

COMMITTEE  ON  COMMERCE 

OF  THE  SENATE, 

AND  THE 

COMMITTEE  ON  RIVERS  AND  HARBORS 

OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

MAY  21  AND  22,  1884, 

IN  SUPPORT  OF 

SENATE  BILL  1632  AND  A  LIKE  BILL  IN  THE  HOUSE, 

TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE 

IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  CHANNEL 

BETWEEN 

GALVESTON  HARBOR  AND  THE  GULF  OF  MEXICO. 


WASHINGTON  : 

Rufus  H.  Darby,  Printer. 
1884. 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  : 

Several  months  ago  while  in  London  I  received  a  commu¬ 
nication  from  the  Mayor  and  Council,  and  a  very  large  num¬ 
ber  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  Galveston,  asking  my 
opinion  as  to  whether  deep  water  could  he  secured  there, 
what  it  would  cost,  and  whether  I  would  be  willing  to  under¬ 
take  the  work.  A  number  of  times  within  the  last  few  years 
I  have  been  urged  by  prominent  persons  in  Galveston  to 
express  my  opinion  as  to  the  probable  success  or  failure  of 
the  plans  upon  which  the  Government  engineers  are  seeking 
to  improve  this  harbor,  but  in  every  instance  I  declined  to 
express  my  opinion  on  the  subject.  When,  however,  I  re¬ 
ceived  the  communication  to  which  I  have  referred  I  felt  that 
it  was  my  duty  to  speak  frankly,  which  I  did  in  a  letter  since 
published  in  this  country,  and  which,  perhaps,  some  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  may  have  seen.  In  it  I  emphat¬ 
ically  declared  : 

1st.  That  deep  water  could  not  be  secured  under  the  pres¬ 
ent  plans  of  the  United  States  engineer  officers. 

2d.  That  I  wras  sure  I  would  be  able  by  works  properly 
located  and  constructed,  to  secure  a  navigable  channel 
through  the  outer  and  inner  bars,  thirty  feet  in  depth  ;  and 
3d.  That  I  would  be  willing  to  undertake  the  work  upon 
^  terms  then  stated,  the  total  price  to  be  §7,750,000,  payable  in 
installments  as  various  depths  were  secured.  The  payment 
of  money  by  the  Government  to  be  in  every  case  dependent 
J'upon  channel  depths  obtained,  and  no  money  to  be  paid 
unless  I  fully  complied  with  all  obligations  assumed  by  me. 

My  appearance  here  is  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  Galveston  and  that  of  the  united  Texas  Congressional 
.^..  delegation,  and  I  come  the  more  willingly  because  I  feel  it 
^  due  to  myself  that  I  should  answer  certain  very  unfair  criti- 
^icisms  of  my  proposition,  made  by  General  Newton,  Chief  of 
Engineers,  and  Major  Mansfield,  the  United  States  engineer 
officer  in  charge  of  the  work,  in  their  recent  official  reports 
upon  the  pending  bill.  I  think  I  will  be  able  to  show  you — 
1st.  That  any  appropriations  to  carry  out  the  present  plans 
will  simply  involve  a  waste  of  that  much  public  money, 
because  those  plans  are  radically  defective  and  never  will 
accomplish  the  purposes  designed ;  and 

\>  41&09 


4 


2d.  That  by  proper  plans  deep  water  can  be  secured.  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  declaring  that  I  can,  beyond  all  doubt,, 
and  within  a  comparatively  short  time,  give  to  Galveston  as 
good,  if  not  a  better,  channel  than  that  through  the  jetties  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

An  examination  of  the  reports  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers- 
from  1874  to  the  present  date  shows,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to 
discover,  that  no  change  had  been  authorized  in  the  plans 
submitted  by  Major  Howell  ten  years  ago  for  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  Galveston  harbor,  except  in  so  far  as  relates  to  the 
method  of  constructing  the  works. 

In  submitting  the  survey  and  plan,  Major  Howell  says  : 
“  The.  object  of  the  survey,  as  stated  in  your  letter  of  instruc¬ 
tions,  was  to  determine  and  estimate  the  cost  of  some  plan 
calculated  to  give  an  eighteen-foot  entrance  to  Galveston 
harbor.”  This  plan  was  referred  to  a  board  of  engineers 
composed  of  General  Tower,  General  Wright,  late  chief  of 
engineers,  and  General  Newton,  the  present  chief  of  the 
corps.  General  Humphreys  in  his  report,  (Report  Sec.  of 
War,  vol.  2,  part  1,  1874,)  under  the  heading  of  “The  Im¬ 
provement  of  Galveston  Harbor,”  says  :  “  Captain  Howell 
submitted  a  report  upon  the  results  of  the  survey  he  had 
been  directed  to  make  for  the  purpose  of  determining  and 
estimating  the  cost  of  some  plan  of  improvement  calculated 
to  give  an  eighteen-foot  entrance  to  this  harbor.” 

I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  only  an  eighteen- 
foot  entrance  was  contemplated  by  Major  Howell’s  plan,  and 
that  no  alteration  has  since  been  announced  by  which  it  can 
be  claimed  that  it  will  produce  a  greater  depth.  General 
Newton  says  in  his  recent  report  upon  Senate  bill  1652, 
embodying  my  proposition,  “  The  mode  of  improvement  at 
Galveston  has  been  reported  upon  by  Boards  of  Engineers  in 
1874-’75-’76  and  1880.  Two  jetties  on  the  south  and  north 
were  recommended  as  necessary,  and  this  view  has  since  been 
held  without  a  change  in  this  office.” 

I  am  further  justified  in  declaring  that  the  present  plan  of 
improvement  does  not  contemplate  securing  a  channel  of 
more  than  eighteen  feet,  from  the  following  statement  in 
General  Newton’s  recent  report  on  this  bill,  when  taken  in 
connection  with  the  reports  of  the  various  boards  of  engi¬ 
neers  to  which  he  refers.  General  Newton  says  : 

“  The  north  and  south  jetties,  placed  according  to  the 
official  plan,  can,  by  an  extension  into  deep  water,  and  by  the 
construction  of  auxiliary  works,  if  needed,  be  made  to  develop 
all  the  depth  of  channel  which  the  nature  of  the  locality  will 
admit.” 

In  the  face  of  the  fact  that  these  several  boards  have 

i 


reported  upon  this  plan  without  altering  it  or  recommending 
an  alteration  by  which  a  greater  depth  than  eighteen  feet  is  to  be 
secured,  Colonel  Mansfield  has  not  hesitated  to  make  the 
following  statement  in  a  report  which  he  has  submitted  upon 
.Senate  bill  1652,  which  provides  for  a  depth  of  thirty  feet. 
He  says : 

“  The  Government  is  to  commit  itself  .to  the  payment  of 
$7,750,000  during  the  next  sixteen  years  for  about  what  the 
Government  can  secure  by  continuing  the  present  work  dur¬ 
ing  the  next  two  years  for  $750,000.” 

General  Hewton,  in  his  report  upon  the  bill, likewise  makes 
the  following  inaccurate  statement : 

“  The  case  can  be  plainly  stated  as  follows  :  Colonel  Mans¬ 
field,  with  the  expenditure  of  $750,000  and  two  seasons’ 
work,  will  obtain  an  increase  of  depth  exceeding  two  feet, 
and  probably  reaching  five  or  six  feet,  while  Mr.  Eads 
and  associates  promise  after  a  period  of  two  years  and  eight 
months  after  the  passage  of  the  bill  to  gain  two  feet  of  depth 
ior  an  expenditure  upon  the  part  of  the  Government  of  two 
million  dollars.” 

He  says  “  after  a  period  of  two  years  and  eight  months,” 
which  is  precisely  the  reverse  of  what  the  bill  declares.  In¬ 
stead  of  the  word  “after”  the  bill  declares  that  I  must  secure 
at  least  two  feet  before  two  years  and  eight  months,  under 
penalty  of  forfeiting  .the  privileges,  &c.,  set  forth  in  it. 

The  Mississippi  jetty  bill  contained  a  similar  clause  with 
the  same  time  for  a  forfeiture  of  the  grant,  but  in  one  year 
from  the  date  of  The  approval  of  the  act,  the  Mattie  Atwood, 
drawing  thirteen  feet  of  water,  passed  out  through  the  uncom¬ 
pleted  works,  and  although  we  had,  as  in  the  present  bill, 
eight  months  in  which  to  begin  the  works  and  two  years 
thereafter  in  which  to  accomplish  specified  results,  we  com¬ 
menced  them  in  about  three  months  and  deepened  the  water 
five  feet  in  nine  months,  and  in  two  years  and  eight  months 
after  the  approval  of  the  law,  we  had  secured  a  twenty-two 
foot  channel,  having  deepened  the  bar  fourteen  feet. 

It  is  important  when  comparing  the  estimate  of  cost  for 
the  completion  of  the  works  on  the  present  plan,  with  those 
which  I  propose,  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  former  plan  only 
contemplates  a  depth  of  eighteen  feet  at  mean  low  tide,  while 
my  proposition  is  to  secure  at  least  thirty  feet  at  tnean  high 
tide,  or  eleven  feet  greater  depth. 

At  the  time  Major  Howell’s  plan  was  approved  by  the 
board  referred  to,  General  Humphreys,  then  chief  of  engi¬ 
neers,  General  Wright,  the  last  chief  of  engineers,  and  Gen¬ 
eral  Hewton,  the  present  chief  of  engineers,  and  Major 
Howell,  were  the  most  prominent  and  outspoken  opposers  of 


6 


the  application  of  the  jetty  system  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi  River.  The  Galveston  plan  and  the  reports  of  the 
hoards  on  it,  and  the  arguments  advanced  by  its  members  at 
that  time,  and  subsequently,  all  bear  testimony  to  the  fact 
that  these  gentlemen  entertained  views  directly  contrary  to 
the  theories  on  which  I  based  my  expectations  of  success  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  late  chief  of  engineers  (General  Wright)  was  the  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  civil  and  military  commission  of  engineers  to 
which  was  referred  the  question  of  applying  jetties  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  He  reported  adversely  to  the  jet¬ 
ties,  and  in  favor  of  the  Fort  St.  Philip  Canal.  Later  on  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  quote  from  the  official  reports  of  Gen¬ 
erals  Humphreys  and  Newton  and  Major  Howell,  regarding 
their  ideas  of  the  jetty  system. 

To  enable  the  committee  to  form  an  intelligent  judgment 
upon  the  merits  of  the  Galveston  plan,  and  to  forecast  the 
probable  results  which  will  attend  its  completion,  it  will  be 
important  to  refer  to  the  general  principles  or  natural  laws 
which  control  the  action  of  flowing  water  and  its  power  to 
transport  sand  and  other  sedimentary  matter,  so  far  as  these 
lawrs  are  involved  in  the  jetty  system.  To  enable  the  com¬ 
mittee  also  to  fully  comprehend  the  reasons  which  actuated 
these  officers  in  recommending  the  Galveston  plan, it  will  be 
necessary  to  quote  from  their  official  reports  some  of  the 
ideas  which  they  then  entertained,  so  that  the  committee 
may  see  how  completely  their  plan  harmonizes  with  the 
errors  which  possessed  their  minds  at  that  time. 

If  the  natural  laws  referred  to  are  clearly  understood  by  the 
committee,  it  will  have  no  difficulty  in  arriving  at  a  correct 
judgment  in  the  premises.  The  jetty  system  is  a  method  of 
deepening  and  maintaining  a  channel  across  a  shoal  by  such 
artificial  works  as  shall  compel  the  water  flowing  over  the 
shoal  to  pass  through  a  narrower  channel.  The  principles 
involved  in  the  system  may  be  thus  stated  in  brief : 

1st.  The  current  is  caused  by  the  fall  of  the  water  from  a 
higher  to  a  lower  level,  which  fall  is  indicated  by  the  slope 
or  inclination  of  the  surface  of  the  water. 

2d.  The  friction  of  the  bed  over  which  the  wrater  flows  is 
the  chief  element  or  force  opposed  to  the  current. 

3d.  The  force  of  the  current  will  he  increased  by  either 
increasing  the  slope  of  surface,  or  by  increasing  the  volume 
of  water  passing  through  the  channel,  or  by  increasing  both. 

4th.  The  friction  of  the  bed  controls  the  velocity  of  the 
current  just  as  the  application  of  the  brakes  to  a  railway 
train,  going  down  grade  without  the  aid  of  the  engine,  regu¬ 
lates  the  velocity  at  which  the  train  moves.  The  railway 


7 


brakes  and  the  friction  of  the  bed  are  to  this  extent  identical 
in  their  effect. 

5th.  The  friction  increases  just  as  the  width  of  the  bed 
increases.  That  is  to  say,  if  the  bed  of  the  channel  he  twice 
as  great,  the  friction  will  be  twice  as  great.  It  is  important 
to  remember  the  fact  as  we  proceed,  because  friction  is  one 
of  the  very  important  elements  that  are  totally  ignored  in 
planning  the  Galveston  jetties,  as  will  be  presently  seen. 

6th.  The  power  of  water  to  transport  sand  increases  with 
the  square  of  the  velocity  of  the  water.  That  is  to  say,  if 
the  current  be  made  twice  as  rapid,  it  will  be  able  to  trans¬ 
port  four  times  as  much  sand. 

How  if  we  consider  these  simple  facts  in  their  application 
to  the  plan  now  being  executed  at  Galveston,  it  will  be  ap¬ 
parent  that  if  the  jetties, “instead  of  being  located  twelve 
thousand  feet  apart,  (2J  miles,)  were  located,  for  instance, 
only  four  thousand  feet  apart,  the  friction  retarding  the  flow 
of  the  water  through  them  would  only  be  one-third  as  great. 
Hence,  with  the  same  slope  of  surface  from  Galveston  Bay 
to  the  sea,  or  from  the  sea  to  Galveston  Bay,  the  current 
through  them  would  be  greatly  accelerated.  And  as  the 
transporting  power  of  the  water  increases  with  its  velocity, 
it  would,  with  this  reduced  width  of  channel,  be  much 
greater,  and  it  would  more  rapidly  excavate  and  maintain 
a  much  deeper  channel  than  could  possibly  be  secured  by 
the  present  design. 

The  reason  why  these  jetties  were  located  so  widely  apart 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fallacious  arguments  which  the  officers 
responsible  for  the  plan  advanced  regarding  the  reformation  of 
the  bar.  Major  Howell,  discussing  in  1874  the  application 
of  jetties  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  declared  that — 
“  Jetties  will  have  to  be  built  further  and  further  out,  not 
annually,  but  steadily  every  day  of  each  year  to  keep  pace 
with  the  advance  of  the  river  deposit  into  the  gulf,  provided 
they  are  attempted,”  (at  the  mouth*  of  the  Mississippi.) 

General  Humphreys  (Ex.  Hoc.,  Ho.  220,  43d  Congress,  1st 
sess.,  April  15, 1874,)  says,  under  the  head  of  “  South  Pass  :” 
“The  mean  width  of  the  pass  is  700  feet,  but  a  less  width 
for  the  jetties  must  be  taken  if  a  channel  way  of  suitable  width 
with  a  depth  of  27  feet  at  low  water  is  to  be  attained.  As¬ 
suming  500  feet  for  this  width,  then  as  the  width  of  this  bar, 
where  the  annual  accretion  of  111  feet  is  made,  is  3,000  feet, 
we  shall,  with  jetties  500  feet  apart,  have  an  annual  advance 
of  670  feet.” 

General  Hewton,  in  the  same  document,  under  date  of  April 
4,  1874,  (see  report  of  Secretary  of  War,  1874,  vol.  2,  part 
1,  p.  883,)  says: 


8 


“  It  is  evident,  that  in  proportion  as  the  cross-section  of 
discharge  on  the  outer  crest  of  the  deposit  or  bar  widens,  its 
progress  into  the  gulf  will  become  slower,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  if  the  cross-section  he  narrowed,  the  progress  of  the 
deposit  will  become  more  rapid.  Whether  the  relative  pro¬ 
gress  he  in  the  simple  inverse  ratio  of  the  width  of  discharge, 
or  in  some  other,  it  is  not  important  here  to  inquire.  The 
essential  fact,  that  as  the  width  of  the  cross-section  diminishes, 
the  rate  of  progress  of  the  bar  into  the  Gulf  must  increase, 
is  self-evident. 

“Let  us  test  by  this  rule  the  relative  advances  of  the  bars 
at  the  mouths  of  the  Southwest  Pass  and  South  Pass,  and 
of  Pass  a  L’ Outre,  each  mouth  being  supposed  to  be  treated 
with  the  jetty  system,  and  the  width  of  cross-section  at  the 
end  of  the  jetties,  being  that  corresponding  to  the  mainte¬ 
nance  of  the  depths  of  25  feet  on  the  passes  themselves. 


Southwest  Pass. 

Pass  a’L’Outre. 

South  Pass. 

Natural  width  of  cross-section  of 

Miles . 

Miles. 

Miles. 

discharge  into  the  gulf. . 

lH 

1 

Width  between  heads  of  jetties . 

X 

4  2-300 

Ratio  between  these . 

3 

4 

8 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Present  annual  rate  of  progress  of 

the  bar . 

338 

302 

280 

Estimated  annual  rate  of  progress 

of  the  bars  after  completion  of 

jetties . 

1,014 

1,208 

2,240 

General  Newton,  in  the  above,  undertakes  to  show  that, 
under  the  influence  of  jetties  at  the  mouth  of  South  Pass,  to 
produce  only  twenty-five  feet  depth  of  water,  the  advance  of 
the  bar  would  be  at  the  rate  of  2,240  feet  per  annum  !  As 
the  jetties  have  maintained  a  thirty-foot' depth  of  channel  for 
nearly  five  years,  during  all  of  which  time  there  has  been  no 
occasion  to  extend  them  a  single  foot,  and  as  there  has  been 
no  indication  of  bar  advance  to  justify  a  belief  that  it  will 
be  necessary  to  extend  them  a  single  foot  during  the  next 
hundred  years,  it  must  be  evident  that  all  these  distinguished 
officers  were  greatly  mistaken.  If  General  Humphreys 
had  been  correct  I  should  have  had  to  extend  the  jetties  by 
this  time  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  mile;  if  General  New¬ 
ton  had  been  correct,  I  would  have  to  be  at  work  to-day  on 
the  jetty  ends  two  miles  and  a  half  farther  out,  where  the 
water  is  160  feet  deep;  and  if  Major  Howell  had  been  cor¬ 
rect,  the  jetties  would  be  well  on  their  way  towards  Cuba. 


9 


When  the  stubborn  facts  of  1884  at  the  mouth  of  the  South 
Pass  are  compared  with  these  declarations,  comment  becomes 
.unnecessary. 

That  the  entire  board  which  approved  Major  Howell’s 
plan,  entertained  the  views  expressed  by  these  officers  will 
he  seen  from  the  following  qotation  from  their  report  to  the 
Chief  of  Engineers  : 

Major  Howell  says,  (report  of  Secretary  of  War,  1874,  vol. 
2,  part  1,  pp.  732-’3:)  “The  jetties  are  expected  to  act  as 
training  walls  for  the  lower-ebb  channel,  while  the  upper 
will  pass  over  them.  They  are  calculated  to  give  a  depth  on 
the  outer  bar  of  from  18  to  19  feet,  and  at  the  same  time 
only  confine  and  direct  so  much  of  the  ebb  and  flood  cur¬ 
rents  as  may  he  useful,  thus  preventing  a  great  advance  of 
the  bar  gulfward,  as  might  be  expected  were  the  jetties  built 
up  to  the  plane  of  mean  low  tide.” 

At  page  737  of  the  same  volume  Messrs.  Tower,  Wright, 
.and  Newton  say: 

“The  letter  of  instructions  before  referred  to  imposes 
the  condition  that  an  increased  depth  of  water  shall  be 
*  permanently  ’  secured.  If  taken  literally  this  condition 
cannot,  in  the  opinion  of  the  board,  be  fulfilled  by  the  present 
project,  or  by  any  other  known  method  of  improvement.” 

This  opinion,  regarding  the  impracticability  of  securing  a 
permanent  depth  of  channel,  is  based  upon  this  mistaken 
theory  of  bar  advance. 

After  submitting  his  estimate  of  the  cost,  Major  Howell 
says : 

“  After  construction,  these  jetties  will,  from  time  to  time, 
require  extension  to  keep  pace  with  the  extension  of  the 
bar  gulfward  The  times  and  amounts  of  such  extensions 
cannot  be  stated,  but  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  advance  of  the 
bar  will  not  be  rapid.” 

The  quotations  I  have  made  from  General  Humphreys  and 
'General  Newton’s  reports  respecting  South  Pass  show  that,  in 
their  opinion,  in  proportion  as  the  improved  channel  is 
narrowed  by  the  jetties,  the  greater  will  be  the  rate  of  bar 
advance.  As  this  would,  in  their  judgment,  be  more  rapid 
with  a  narrow  channel,  and  as  the  whole  plan  at  Galveston 
was  purely  experimental,  the  very  moderate  depth  of  18  feet 
was  taken  as  the  maximum  that  should  be  secured  to  reduce 
to  the  lowest  limits  the  enormous  expense  that  was  to  be 
looked  for  in  the  extension  of  the  jetties  afterwards.  General 
Humphreys  stated  that  the  annual  extension  of  jetties  at  the 
Southwest  Pass  would  cost  a  million  dollars  per  annum. 
The  depth  of  18  feet  was  the  least  that  the  demands  of  com¬ 
merce  could  be  satisfied  with  at  Galveston,  and  as  this  depth 


10 


was  determined  upon,  it  followed,  by  their  arithmetical 
theory,  that  the  magnificent  width  of  2  J  miles  was  necessary 
to  he  established  between  the  two  jetties  to  restrain  the 
phantom  of  bar  advance. 

These  gentlemen  totally  overlooked  the  fact  that  the  fric¬ 
tion  through  such  a  wide  channel  would  neutralize  the  effect  of 
the  current,  an  increased  force  of  which  must  be  had  to  in¬ 
sure  the  deepening  of  the  channel.  Forgetful  of  the  retard¬ 
ing  effects  of  friction  on  such  a  channel,  they  then  committed 
their  crowning  mistake  of  leaving  enormous  lateral  outlets 
near  the  land,  through  each  jetty,  by  which  the  current  should 
be  still  more  enfeebled. 

Another  equally  important  principle  involved  in  the  jetty 
system  was  likewise  overlooked  by  them.  I  allude  to  the 
effect  of  wave  action  upon  the  sandy  bottom  of  the  shore  of 
the  sea.  Neglecting  the  consideration  of  this  important 
factor,  it  is  simply  impossible  to  permanently  maintain  be¬ 
tween  submerged  jetties  any  increase  of  depth  even  if  their 
works  could  produce  it.  It  is  necessary  to  explain  wave 
action  so  that  the  committee  will  fully  understand  its  bearing 
upon  the  question  of  bar  advance,  as  well  as  the  maintenance 
of  the  channel  between  the  jetties. 

The  waves  of  the  sea  produce  no  continuously  horizontal 
motion  whatever  in  the  water  over  which  they  are  passing, 
unless  the  depth  be  so  shallow  that  the  crest  of  the  wave 
when  it  sinks  will  feel  the  resistance  of  the  bottom.  When 
this  occurs  a  motion  of  translation  or  horizontal  motion,  in¬ 
variably  toward  the  shore,  is  induced  in  the  water.  Of  course,, 
the  higher  the  waves  the  greater  will  be  the  depth  at  which 
this  horizontal  movement  will  be  produced.  The  waves  of 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  are  not  high  enough  to  produce  this 
effect  sensibly  in  a  greater  depth  than  twenty-five  or  thirty 
feet.  Waves  result  from  the  friction  of  the  wind,  and  they 
increase  in  size  in  proportion  to  the  “  fetch  ”  or  distance  they 
are  driven  under  its  influence.  The  fetch  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  is  limited  to  about  eight  hundred  miles,  and  the 
waves  are  not,  therefore,  excessively  high.  Large  waves 
near  the  shore  are  always  driven  towards  the  shore,  for  the 
reason  that  a  wind  blowing  off*  the  land  cannot  create  them 
of  any  considerable  magnitude  near  it,  and  because  the  shal¬ 
lower  the  water  in  which  the  waves  are  travelling  the  slower 
will  be  their  progress  ;  hence,  if  the  waves  are  moving  under 
an  impulse  parallel  to  the  shore  they  will  be  moving  at  right 
angles  to  that  shore  and  the  end  of  the  wave  nearest  the  land 
will  move  more  slowly  because  it  is  in  shallower  depth. 
This  will  cause  the  waves  to  come  obliquely  upon  the  shore. 
Hence  the  horizontal  or  translatory  motion  of  the  water  in- 


11 


duced  by  the  waves  is  always  towards  the  land.  As  the}7  move 
onwards  to  the  beach,  this  horizontal  motion  increases  in 
velocity,  until  under  its  impulse  the  water  is  driven  far  out  on 
shore. 

Under  the  influence  of  severe  storms  the  transporting 
power  in  the  gulf  waves  is  limited  to  the  depth  of  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  feet,  and  increases  in  strength  as  they  roll  into 
the  shallower  water  ;  therefore  when  they  rush  out  upon  the 
beach  they  are  highly  charged  with  sediment ;  a  momentary 
pause  ensues  before  the  retreat  of  the  wave  occurs  and  dur¬ 
ing  this  pause  the  sand  is  dropped  on  the  shore.  As  the  re¬ 
turn  current  starts  from  a  state  of  rest  it  has  less  power  to 
carry  the  sand  down  to  the  sea  than  the  rapid  current  had 
to  bring  it  out  upon  the  shore.  In  addition  to  this  the  re¬ 
treating  current  has  less  volume,  because  during  the  momen¬ 
tary  pause  before  the  ebb  sets  in,  the  volume  of  the  water, 
which  is  one  of  the  elements  producing  the  current,  becomes 
much  less  than  it  was  when  coming  out  on  to  the  shore,  much 
of  it  sinking  into  the  beach,  and,  therefore,  the  return  cur¬ 
rent,  although  induced  by  the  steep  slope,  will  be  slower  and 
incapable  of  transporting  all  of  the  sand  back  again. 

In  this  way  the  sea  waves  are  continually  transporting  sand 
shoreward  on  the  san.dy  beaches  of  the  sea,  and  where  no 
lateral  current  exist  these  beaches  continue  to  grow  seaward. 

The  water  which  issues  from  any  tidal  basin  such  as  that 
at  Galveston  or  from  any  river,  must  struggle  to  reach  the 
sea  through  the  barricades  of  sand  that  are  thus  continually 
heaped  up  by  the  waves. 

How,  as  the  influence  of  this  action  depends  upon  the 
height  of  the  waves,  it  must  follow  that  the  deeper  the  mouth 
of  the  jetty  channel  is  made,  the  less  will  be  the  ability  of 
the  waves  to  create  a  bar  in  front  of  that  channel.  I  think 
it  would  be  simply  impossible  that  the  waves  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  should  disturb  the  sand  in  the  bottom  of  the  channel 
twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  deep  at  the  end  of  the  jetties.  This 
opinion  is  based  upon  experience  and  observation  at  the  jet¬ 
ties  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Consequently,  instead  of  there 
being  a  propriety  in  placing  jetties  two  miles  and  a  quarter 
a  part  at  such  a  location  as  Galveston,  through  fear  of  an  ad¬ 
vance  of  the  bar,  it  must  be  evident  that  they  should  be 
placed  so  as  to  create  the  deepest  channel  compatible  with 
the  safety  of  the  jetties  against  being  undermined,  and  with 
due  regard  to  the  economy  of  their  maintenance.  The  closer 
together  they  are,  within  the  limits  of  safety,  the  less  will ' 
the  friction  of  the  bed  retard  the  entry  and  exit  of  the  water 
through  them,  the  deeper  will  be  channel  produced  by  the 
current,  and  the  earlier  will  be  the  relief  afforded  to  com- 


12 


merce.  The  deeper  the  channel  the  less  possible  will  he  the 
reformation  of  the  bar  in  front  of  it.  If  they  he  placed  too 
-close  together,  the  channel  will  become  so  deep  that  the  jet¬ 
ties  themselves  will  he  undermined,  or  the  cost  of  mainte¬ 
nance  will  be  increased. 

It  must  be  evident  to  any  engineer  who  takes  up  the  study 
of  a  problem  like  this,  that  these  gentlemen  entirely  over¬ 
looked  the  effect  of  both  friction  and  wave  action  in  the 
location  of  their  works,  and  were  totally  wrong  in  anticipat¬ 
ing  an  advance  of  the  bar ;  nor  did  they  consider  the  effect 
of  wave  action  in  determining  the  height  of  their  jetties.  In 
a  space  of  two  and  a  quarter  miles  wide,  and  but  from  twelve 
to  fourteen  feet  deep,  with  a  bottom  of  quicksand,  disturbed 
by  every  storm  which  sweeps  across  it  from  one  side  or  the 
other,  the  wave  action  would  be  sufficiently  energetic  to  level 
down  and  obliterate  any  channel  which  the  current  in  calmer 
weather  might  he  able  to  excavate ;  hut  it  will  he  presently 
seen  that  the  height  to  which  they  limit  the  jetties,  must  ex¬ 
pose  any  channel  excavated  between  them  to  serious  inter¬ 
ruption,  if  not  obliteration,  by  the  sands  which  would  he 
transported  from  the  outside  of  them  into  the  jetty  channel. 
They  propose  that  only  a  portion  of  their  jetties  shall  be 
built  up  to  the  level  of  mean  low  water,  thereby  leaving  the 
tide  to  rise  from  one  to  four  feet  over  the  tops  of  these  por¬ 
tions  even  where  they  are  highest. 

The  jetty  system  is  essentially  a  system  of  conservation  of 
the  water  and  not  one  of  diffusion.  But,  as  if  this  facility  of 
overflow  were  not  a  sufficient  violation  of  the  fundamental 
principle  underlying  the  jetty  system,  they  actually  leave  into 
their  plan  enormous  outlets  by  which  the  lateral  escape  of 
the  water  through  each  jetty  near  the  land  will  be  made. 
(See  plan  of  works  in  Colonel  Mansfield’s  report  of  1880.) 

What  is  known  on  the  Mississippi  River  as  the  outlet  sys¬ 
tem  has  undergone  the  most  crucial  scientific  discussion  and 
careful  study  during  the  last  eight  or  ten  years.  It  has  been 
condemned  by  the  Mississippi  River  Commission,  who  were 
directed  by  Congress  to  examine  and  report  upon  it,  and  it 
has  been  also  rejected  by  the  action  of  several  Congressional 
committees  as  a  system  wholly  wrong  in  principle  where  the 
deepening  of  a  channel  is  to  he  sought.  Although  this 
decision  was  arrived  at  four  or  five  years  ago  the  experi¬ 
mental  plan  of  the  Galveston  jetties  has  continued,  and  the 
flood-tides,  whose  volume  should  be  retained  in  their  outflow 
to  deepen  the  chanel,  are  allowed  to  escape  over  the  whole 
length  of  the  submerged  jetties. 

Under  the  mistaken  idea  of  facilitating  the  inflow  of  the 
tide,  oblivious  of  the  fact  that,  if  it  be  made  to  flo*w  through 


one  single  channel  of  moderate  width,  it  will  have  less  fric¬ 
tion  to  retard  it,  and  will  more  easily  till  the  bay  than  if  it  be 
made  to  come  in  through  three  wide  ones,  they  proposed 
two  lateral  channels  near  the  land  end  of  the  jetties.  The 
one  through  the  south  jetty,  as  shown  on  the  plans  published 
1880,  is  a  mile  long ;  the  one  through  the  north  jetty  is  ten 
thousand  feet,  and  the  one  through  the  direct  jetty  channel 
is  two  and  one-quarter  miles,  making  a  total  width  of  over- 
five  miles.  They  seem  to  have  wholly  forgotten  also  that 
these  lateral  outlets  will  offer  the  readiest,  shortest  and 
easiest  route  for  the  escape  of  the  ebb  tide,  which  must  do 
all  of  the  excavation  required  to  secure  and  maintain  the 
improved  channel.  They  evidently  believed  when  planning 
these  novel  works  that  the  water  will  flow  in  through  these 
short  routes  to  the  bay,  hut  will  go  out  through  one  three 
times  as  long  to  deepen  their  channel.  If  we  suppose  the 
height  of  the  water  at  the  present  outlet  of  Galveston  Bay, 
between  Fort  Point  and  Bolivar  Point,  to  be  twelve  inches 
beyond  the  level  of  the  gulf  beyond  the  bar,  it  will  be  seen 
that  to  reach  this  latter  level  through  the  jetties  the  water 
must  travel  about  four  and  a  half  miles,  which  would  give  a 
slope  of  about  two  and  a  half  inches  per  mile,  whereas,, 
through  these  great  lateral  outlets  the  water  can  reach  the 
same  level  in  a  distance  of  a  mile  or  two,  by  a  fall  more  than 
two  or  three  times  as  steep.  It  is,  therefore,  preposterous  to- 
suppose  that  the  discharge  of  the  bay  will  be  made  through 
the  ends  of  the  jetties  and  over  the  shallow  part  of  the  bar 
when  it  can  be  so  much  more  easily  discharged  through  and 
over  the  jetties.  But  aside  from  this  great  error,  which 
ignores  one  of  the  most  elementary  principles  of  hydraulics, 
namely,  that  water  will  flow  by  lines  of  least  resistance,  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  jetties  to  he  successful  should 
he  built  up  so  high  as  to  prevent  not  simply  the  waste  of 
water  over  them,  but  also  the  wave  action  bringing  sand 
over  their  tops  from  the  outside  into  the  improved  channel. 

General  Newton,  when  discussing  in  1874  the  application 
of  jetties  at  the  mouth  of  South  Pass,  said,  (see  report  Sec¬ 
retary  of  War,  1874,  vol.  2,  part  1,  p.  885  :) 

“  The  longitudinal  section  of  its  bar  and  bed  by  its  irregu¬ 
larities  indicates  very  clearly  that  the  shoaling  process  is 
going  on  throughout,  and  that  the  pass  at  the  present  time 
is  hanging  between  the  conditions  of  a  live  pass  and  a  stag¬ 
nant  ditch,  to  the  last  of  which  results  it  must  arrive  if  a  rev¬ 
olution  in  the  delta  does  not  redeem  it.  And  this  most 
probable  fate  will  be  precipitated  by  applying  the  jetty  system 
to  its  mouth.” 

In  his  official  criticism  of  the  bill  which  embodies  my 


14 


proposition  to  produce  thirty  feet  of  water  at  Galveston,  at 
the  sole  risk  of  myself  and  associates,  and  without  pay  if  we 
do  not  succeed,  this  same  officer  says:  “  Should  Congress  be 
resolved  to  make  a  change  in  the  administration  of  this  work, 
at  least  it  will  be  for  the  interest  of  the  service  to  await  the 
construction  of  the  north  jetty,  and  the  observations  of  its 
effects  which  will  lead  to  the  possession  of  facts  and  data  cal¬ 
culated  to  throw  a  needed  light  upon  the  amount  necessary 
to  he  expended  for  obtaining  a  proper  depth  on  the  bar.” 
When  we  examine  the  reports  of  these  officers  and  read  the 
the  prediction  of  their  chief  regarding  the  South  Pass  of  the 
Mississippi  which,  by  his  scientific  reasoning  was  to  be  con¬ 
verted  into  a  “  stagnant  ditch”  by  the  application  of  jetties 
instead  of  being  made  by  them,  as  it  is,  the  grand  highway 
of  a  nation’s  commerce,  it  cannot  be  wondered  that  he  should 
utter  this  plea  for  “  the  interests  of  the  service  ”  and  declare 
that  they  will  be  promoted  by  the  possession  of  facts  and 
data  by  which  a  needed  light  can  be  thrown  upon  the  prob¬ 
lem  they  have  in  hand.  The  want  of  this  u  needed  light  ”  in 
1874  caused  the  present  chief  of  engineers  not  only  to  op¬ 
pose  the  application  of  the  proper  method  of  securing  deep 
water  for  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  but  also  to  sus¬ 
tain  a  hopeless  plan  to  give  eighteen  feet  of  water  at  the 
chief  shipping  port  of  a  territory  larger  than  Great  Britain. 
And  now  ten  years  after  he  recommends  that  the  interests  of 
Texas  and  the  vast  section  tributary  to  Galveston  be  subor¬ 
dinate  to  the  interests  of  “  the  service  ;  ”  and  in  admitting  the 
lack  of  this  “  needed  light,”  he  virtually  admits  what  every 
citizen  of  Galveston  well  knows  by  this  time,  namely,  that 
the  plan  to  which  the}7  are  clinging  so  tenaciously  to-day  is 
simply  an  experiment  which,  in  ten  years,  has  produced  no 
substantial  benefit  whatever,  and  from  which  it  is  utterly 
hopeless  to  expect  any  in  the  future. 

In  comparing  the  cost  of  the  jetties  contemplated  in  Sen¬ 
ate  bill  1652,  with  those  which  were  constructed  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  for  five  and  a  quarter  million  dol¬ 
lars,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  distance  to  deep  water  across 
the  bar  at  Galveston  is  more  than  twice  as  great  as  it  was  to 
the  same  depth  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  In  other 
words,  the  jetties  at  Galveston  must  be  more  than  double 
the  length  of  those  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
cost  of  extending  works  out  into  the  sea  to  twice  the  distance 
involves  a  much  greater  cost  than  would  be  at  first  supposed, 
because  the  further  out  from  the  shore  the  works  extend,  the 
more  exposed  they  become,  the  heavier  they  have  to  be  con¬ 
structed,  and  the  greater  is  the  danger  to  the  boats,  appar¬ 
atus,  &c.,  required  in  their  construction.  In  addition  to  the 


15 


length  of  jetties  required,  extensive  works  are  needed  to 
deepen  the  inner  bar,  to  create  a  depth  of  thirty  feet  to  the 
harbor  of  Galveston.  These  works  will  need  to  be  quite  as 
extensive  and  quite  as  expensive  as  those  which  were  re¬ 
quired  at  the  head  of  the  South  Pass. 

In  comparing  the  amount  of  seven  and  three-quarter  mill¬ 
ions  with  the  official  estimates  for  the  completion  of  the 
works  at  Galveston,  it  will  be  noted  that  these  estimates  do 
not  include  any  works  for  the  deepening  of  the  inner  bar. 
Upon  this  subject  the  hoard  of  1874  says,  (see  report  of 
Chief  of  Engineers,  vol.  2,  part  1,  page  739 :) 

“  As  regards  the  works  within  the  bay,  designed  by  Cap¬ 
tain  Howell  for  the  purpose  mainly  of  increasing  the  width 
of  the  harbor  of  Galveston,  and  of  improving  the  bar  at  its 
mouth,  the  board  is  of  the  opinion  that  nothing  should  he 
done  till  the  question  of  the  practicability  of  permanently  im¬ 
proving  the  outer  bar  shall  have  been  demonstrated,  and  it 
therefore  expresses  no  opinion  thereon.” 

The  two  jetties  which  are  required  at  Galveston  will  have 
to  be  nearly  nine  miles  long,  and  will  have  to  extend  out  into 
much  deeper  water  than  those  designed  by  Major  Howell. 
In  addition  to  this,  as  I  have  already  stated,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  they  be  built  up,  not  simply  to  high  tide,  but 
very  considerably  above  i+,  to  prevent  the  sand  from  being 
brought  over  into  the  jetty  channel  from  the  shoals  on  the 
outer  sides  of  the  jetties. 

Colonel  Mansfield  reports  that  the  south  jetty  is  only  built  up 
to  mean  low  tide,  through  a  distance  of  about  four  and  one- 
quarter  miles.  The  plans  for  the  north  jetty  show  that  it  is 
to.be  built  up  no  higher,  and  for  a  distance  only  about  one 
mile.  It  is  therefore  unfair  as  well  as  idle  to  attempt  to  com¬ 
pare  the  cost  of  this  system  of  low  submerged  jetties,  from 
two  to  fourteen  feet  high,  and  not  extending  into  deep 
water  with  those  which  must,  to  be  successful,  extend  out 
into  it,  and  be  built  to  twice  or  three  times  the  average 
height  of  the  other,  for  the  reason  that  the  cost  of  both  sys¬ 
tems  will  be  as  the  square  of  their  heights,  other  things  being 
equal,  while  the  extensions  into  the  deep  water  will  increase 
in  a  much  more  rapid  ratio.  Besides  the  jetties  must  be 
capped  with  heavy  concrete  blocks  or  other  substantial  con¬ 
structions  to  resist  the  force  of  the  waves,  whereas  the  jetty 
built  at  Galveston  has  no  such  force  to  withstand  in  its  sub¬ 
merged  condition. 

In  proportion  as  we  build  the  jetties  up  to  the  surface  of 
the  water,  this  force  oi  the  waves  becomes  more  and  more 
powerful  against  them.  It  must  be  apparent,  then,  that  a 
jetty  to  resist  the  violence  of  the  waves,  and  stop  them  from 


16 


3  0112  077580840 


breaking  over  into  the  channel,  must  be  vastly  stronger  than 
if  they  be  built  only  up  to  the  level  of  mean  low  tide.  Hence 
it  is  idle  to  attempt  to'  compare  the  cost  of  jetties  properly 
budt  up  to  the  necessary  height  and  extending  with  that 
height  from  the  land  clear  out  to  30  feet  water  beyond 
the  bar,  with  those  which  have  been  designed  by  the 
United  States  engineers  for  G-alveston  harbor.  As  the 
tide  sometimes  rises  three  or  four  feet  above  mean  low  tide 
the  jetties  will  have  to  be  built  at  least  eight  or  nine  feet 
higher  than  the  one  now  completed  by  Colonel  Mansfield. 

The  total  cost  of  this  jetty  wrongly  located,  and  of  these 
insignificant  proportions,  has  been  one  million  and  a  half 
dollars,  including  the  wrecked  gabionade  on  the  north  side 
ot  the  channel. 

If  the  plan  of  the  Government  at  Galveston  possessed  real 
merit,  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  the  immense  territory  which 
is  to  be  relieved  by  deep  water  at  that  harbor  would  attain 
the  relief  sought  within  the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  if 
the  present  system  of  appropriating  money  to  carry  on  pub¬ 
lic  works  is  persisted  in,  and  it  seems  so  hopelessly  fastened 
upon  the  country,  that  there  is  no  present  appearance  of  its 
abandonment.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  if  the  method  by  which 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River  has  been  deepened  had 
been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  United  States  engineers  and 
appropriations  for  it  had  been  doled  out  in  the  way  in  which 
they  are  voted  from  year  to  year,  that  the  works  would 
scarcely  be  completed  to-day,  wdiereas  the  commerce  of  the 
Mississippi  valley  obtained  its  relief  about  seven  years  ago, 
at  which  time  the  depth  through  the  jetties  was  sufficient  to 
admit  at  least  90  or  95  per  cent,  of  the  commercial  tonnage  of 
the  world,  while  for  the  last  five  years  the  depth  has  been 
amply  sufficient  for  the  largest  steamers  afloat. 

By  the  proposition  which  I  make  it  must  be  evident  that 
it  will  be  to  the  interest  of  myself  and  my  associates  to  secure 
at  the  very  earliest  possible  date  the  greatest  depth  of  water 
which  we  propose  to  secure,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  before 
this  intelligent  committee  that  the  producers  in  the  territory 
which  is  tributary  to  Galveston  must  annually  save  a  sum  far- 
greater  than  that  which  it  is  proposed  shall  be  paid  for  the 
entire  work. 


